Advancing Household & Community Asset-Building Strategies

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Advancing Household & Community Asset-Building Strategies

First Nations Development Institute works with our national and local partners to identify, develop and implement household and community asset-building strategies that empower Native people. Working with our community partners in tribal colleges and community development financial institutions (CDFIs), we share ideas through peer learning and we finance program development through our grantmaking program. Working with our national and regional partners, we have helped share information about household asset-building programs such as Individual Development Accounts, Children’s Savings Accounts, and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites. We also conduct research on issues related to predatory lending in Native communities and work to raise awareness of this problem. First Nations’ programs help move families and communities toward financial security.

To create systemic economic change, First Nations also works with Native American communities to develop new businesses and services, and reclaim direct control of assets. We seek to help communities understand, create and control the way in which Native assets are valued, as well as the decision-making process in deciding whether to monetize those assets.

First Nations and its wholly-owned subsidiary, First Nations Oweesta Corporation, work with reservation and rural Indian communities to create and support CDFIs, Native businesses and tribal programs with early-stage investments and capitalization to stimulate business growth through new financial models, products and services. Through entrepreneurship and business-development projects targeted at both the tribal (macro) and individual (micro) levels, First Nations creates and supports sustainable economic development in Native communities.

Native Arts Capacity Building Initiative (NACBI)

About the NACBI

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) works to build healthy economies in Indian Country based on strategies that emphasize Native communities controlling their assets of production. Today, there is an unprecedented opportunity to increase market opportunities and access among artists in Native communities by helping position them to produce, market and sell their art while at the same time supporting art as an integral cultural asset in Native communities.

First Nations believes that Native-controlled nonprofit organizations and tribal government programs represent key institutional assets of tribes and play an essential role in supporting the field of Native arts and artists who are striving for economic self-sufficiency and cultural preservation. First Nations established the NATIVE ARTS CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE (NACBI) in 2014 with the goal of increasing the organizational, managerial and programmatic capacity of these Native-controlled nonprofit organizations and tribal government programs in an effort to enhance their long-term sustainability and stability as they work to meet the needs of their constituent artists. The NACBI is supported by the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation along with contributions from tribal, corporate and individual supporters.

NACBI Funding Opportunities

In October 2014, First Nations kicked off its inaugural NACBI grantmaking cycle, awarding six grants to Native arts capacity building programs in the four-state region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota, for a total of $180,000. First Nations will award additional Native arts capacity building grants in 2015 and 2016.

In addition to the organizational and programmatic capacity building grants under the NACBI, First Nations will award several mini-grants to Native-controlled nonprofit organizations and Native arts markets in the four-state region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota in early 2015 to support professional development of leadership and staff. Grant recipients will be able to utilize the mini-grants to attend professional development meetings, conferences and other trainings.

NACBI-funded projects cover a variety of areas, including developing Native artists’ business skills, art gallery revitalization efforts, creating sustainable business and marketing plans for grantee organizations, establishing Artists Divisions within grantee organizations to bolster the organizational focus on art entrepreneurs, developing and implementing reservation-wide arts marketing programs, receiving grantwriting and other fundraising training to better position organizations to expand their revenue base, and attending national arts conferences and trainings to expand grantee organizations’ networks and opportunities.

NACBI Grantee Training and Technical Assistance Opportunities

Besides direct project funding, First Nations provides NACBI grantees with one-on-one technical assistance based on their needs identified in First Nations’ Capacity Assessment Tool. Grantees will also receive scholarships to attend one of two small regional capacity building trainings in 2015. Finally, grantees will have the opportunity to send a representative from their organizations to participate in First Nations’ annual L.E.A.D. Institute Conference. First Nations will be holding its 20th Annual L.E.A.D. Institute Conference September 23-24, 2015, at Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino in Santa Fe, New Mexico (pre-conference sessions for NACBI grantees will begin on September 22). The conference is a key part of the L.E.A.D. Institute (Leadership and Entrepreneurial Apprenticeship Development program), and is an intensive learning, mentoring and networking event for emerging and existing leaders and staff members of Native nonprofits, tribal government programs, and philanthropic professionals.

2014 NACBI Grantees

Four Bands Community Fund (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe & other tribes in SD) - $30,000

Four Bands Community Fund, a Native-controlled nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), administers the "Rediscovering Native Art on Cheyenne River" project to strengthen the arts sector on the Cheyenne River Reservation by building the capacity of a communal art space, building the capacity of local Native artists, developing and implementing a reservation-wide art marketing program, and developing and distributing a best practices guide so that the project can be replicated in other reservation communities. To maximize the impact of this project, Four Bands Community Fund partners with key organizations that are also dedicated to promoting Native art and culture.

Minneapolis American Indian Center (Tribal members of Minnesota tribes & others) - $30,000

Located within the Minneapolis American Indian Center (MAIC), a Native-controlled 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Two Rivers Gallery has provided a venue for local American Indian artists since 1976. In 2014-2015, the MAIC will revitalize the Gallery through organizational development and by providing resources for local American Indian artists to hold exhibits in the Gallery. Local American Indian artists will be invited to participate in six community shows in 2015. The re-launch of the Gallery will add to the revitalization of the MAIC. Located along the American Indian Cultural Corridor in south Minneapolis, the MAIC has been the heart of the American Indian community. The Two Rivers Gallery will add to the rich culture of the community and history of the MAIC.

Sitting Bull College, a Tribal College accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Higher Education, currently provides opportunities for artists to show what they do, market their products and services, and learn topics relevant to their success. The purpose of this project is to create a community infrastructure that will more effectively market and coordinate the artists’ relevant programs and services and increase the quality of the programs and services offered to community artists.

The Lakota Fund, Inc.(Oglala Lakota Sioux, SD) - $29,997

The Lakota Fund, Inc. (TLFI), a Native-controlled Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving the Pine Ridge Reservation, provides Oglala Lakota artists with financial services and business skills development. Selected artists will access capital and expand marketing of their work. An estimated 30% of Pine Ridge Reservation households earn some income from arts and crafts. However, economic well-being for families and the community is often lost because these endeavors are not run as businesses, are undercapitalized, and lack marketing opportunities. By helping individual artists, this project will boost the entire art industry in this region. TLFI will establish an Artists Division within TLFI to maintain this focus beyond the scope of this project. The current TLFI Strategic Plan focuses organizational efforts on creating and expanding Native business; the new Artists Division will assure that focus remains on art entrepreneurs, a group who helped Lakota Fund get started.

White Earth Nation (White Earth Nation community, MN) - $30,000

The purpose of the White Earth Nation’s Gizhiigin Art Place Project is to assist, promote and foster the growth and development of local artists and entrepreneurs with a unique focus on community involvement while increasing the visibility of the local artists and entrepreneurs. The project will succeed in its purpose by giving the clients and all those involved a viable skill set and valuable business knowledge that will allow them to use their creative abilities to make a viable living. In 2015, the project will house up to six clients at its location in Mahnomen, Minnesota, and offers them a workspace, access to high-speed internet, business plan development, along with access to local resources with the knowledge and expertise to assist them with any business development needs.

Woodland Indian Art, Inc. (WIA), a community organization located on the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin reservation, promotes and educates the public about the uniqueness of Woodland Indian Art. WIA also organizes and administers an annual Woodland Indian Art Show and Market, which includes a juried art competition, artist workshops, youth art competition and an art market. WIA is working to increase its organizational capacity as a nonprofit and strategic infrastructure by creating a sustainable business/marketing plan for WIA and an action plan to increase revenue to support and expand WIA'S activities. By increasing the organizational capacity of Woodland Indian Art, Inc. it will have the ability to expand its focus to a "festival" type event which includes performing artists and more art workshops from the targeted Midwest tribes, as well as an increased number of artists and public who decide to participate. This project will strengthen the board and other volunteers through training and implementation of strategic long-term planning for growth and sustainability.

Native Family Empowerment Program

Our Native Family Empowerment Program is helping two tribal colleges, Chief Dull Knife College and Northwest Indian College, to provide services to support Native students who are also parents. The two tribal colleges will provide “bundled services” to their Native students who are parents, including social supports (e.g. child care, assistance accessing benefits, counseling) and financial empowerment supports (e.g. financial education, asset-building, workforce readiness, financial coaching). By supporting parents and their young children, this program will help families achieve financial empowerment. Chief Dull Knife College and Northwest Indian College have each received $90,000 grants for 2.5 years. First Nations is also offering technical assistance to the People’s Partners for Community Development and Lummi Community Development Financial Institution, two CDFIs that work in partnership with the colleges.

Building Economic Security Over a Lifetime

Under the Building Economic Security Over a Lifetime initiative, with funding from the Ford Foundation, First Nations works with key partners in Oklahoma to build and nurture two coalitions dedicated to inclusive asset-building. First Nations coordinated this work with the goal of elevating an asset-building agenda at the state, local and tribal levels that will provide inclusive income and program strategies to ensure family economic security. Working closely with partners on the ground, First Nations helped the Oklahoma Native Assets Coalition (ONAC) reach out to tribes and Native nonprofits in the state and share ideas, information and innovative models with policymakers and practitioners.

In 2014, ONAC began piloting its Native Children’s Savings Account Campaign with two mini-grants to the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. First Nations also worked closely with Oklahoma Policy Institute to support the Oklahoma Assets Network (OAN) as it reached out to underserved communities in Oklahoma, identified key policy and program issues, and educated community members and policy leaders about innovative asset-building programs.

In 2014, OAN initiated a partnership with Restore Hope Ministries to offer an emergency savings program to Restore Hope clients. OAN also collaborated with Howard University Center on Race and Wealth to profile payday lending in Oklahoma. Dr. Haydar Kurban, a professor from Howard University, published Demographics of Payday Lending in Oklahoma. OAN and Dr. Kurban presented the findings from this research in April 2015 at Who Pays More: A Town Hall Forum on Predatory Lending in Oklahoma.

Native Asset-Building Partnership Project

First Nations Development Institute launched the Native Asset-Building Partnership Project (NABPP) to help tribes develop tools and infrastructure for control of their assets. The NABPP is geared to strengthen tribal institutions in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota through peer learning and model development that will lead to improved control and management of assets for the benefit of Native communities and individuals. First Nations' goal is to foster partnerships between tribes and allow them to share best practices for asset stewardship and management.

In 2012, First Nations received grant support to help develop and facilitate two partnerships between (1) the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and the Hopi Tribe, and (2) the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and the Spokane Tribe, in order to strengthen the tribal infrastructure through peer learning and model development. The partnerships are based on a mentor-mentee relationship model where one tribe with an established program model assists another tribe in developing a similar program in their tribal community. In the first partnership, the Hopi tribe will share best practices with the Oneida Nation for developing infrastructure to establish an endowment fund. In the second partnership, the Mille Lacs Band will work with the Spokane tribe to build on human capital so Mille Lacs can improve its natural resource division and engage the community with this division. The generous financial support for this project is being provided by the Otto Bremer Foundation.

The Department of Natural Resources for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and Sovereign Power Inc. have both brought different expertise and experience to this partnership, which has focused on alternative energy development, including wind and solar and various forest management practices. In 2010, representatives from this partnership held their third annual meeting on the Mille Lacs reservation in Onamia, Minnesota. The main topic of discussion was woody biofuel production, taking into consideration that biomass power is the largest source of renewable energy. Woody biomass consists of trees and woody plants, including limbs, tops, needles, leaves, and other woody parts, grown in a forest, woodland, or rangeland environment, and that are the by-products of forest management. Discussion at this meeting focused on the necessary steps for woody biomass production, including business approaches and cultural considerations to making biomass production work on Indian lands.

Tribal College-CDFI Collaboration Project

In 2012, First Nations received a grant to form partnerships between tribal colleges and local Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) in two communities. This project will pilot in the two tribal communities of the Lummi Nation, located in Washington, and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. The tribal colleges, Northwest Indian College and the College of the Menominee Nation, will provide business and entrepreneurship-focused training for tribal college students. Students who have completed the training will be encouraged and eligible for business start-up or expansion loans from the CDFIs. The intention is to promote the growth of private-sector business development in Indian Country. The generous financial support for this project is being provided by the Johnson Scholarship Foundation.

First Nations Oweesta Corporation

In order to focus on the capitalization and development of emerging Native community development financial institutions (CDFIs), the board of directors of First Nations Development Institute incorporated First Nations Oweesta Corporation as a wholly owned subsidiary in 1999. The organization's sound stewardship directly contributed to the rapid development of certified Native CDFIs. For more than 10 years, Oweesta has been part of some 200 total awards to the Native institutions, totaling tens of millions of dollars in fruitful investment in Indian Country. Oweesta focuses on CDFI development by offering expert training and customized follow-up assistance, and by providing loans to qualifying organizations, enabling them to reinvest the capital back into their communities.